Readily tearable package for sterile articles

ABSTRACT

A package for sterile articles, comprising a paper part and a plastic part connected to the paper part along longitudinal and transverse lines. The plastic part comprises a linearly oriented plastic film material which can be torn in its direction of orientation. This direction of orientation is parallel to those longitudinal lines, and tear indications on the plastic part at one end of the package are parallel to and disposed between but closely adjacent those longitudinal lines. The paper part has edge portions that are folded over toward each other. The longitudinal lines secure the plastic part to the outer sides of those folded-over portions, said folded-over portions having free edges that are between and spaced a substantially distance from the tear indications. There is a sterile article in the package, those edge portions being folded over the edges of the sterile article.

The present invention relates to a package intended for sterilearticles. A most essential feature in packages of this type is thattotal sterility for the enclosed article is secured during handling.

If gas or steam is chosen as a sterilization medium, the package must ofcourse be gas and vapor permeable. To this end, such packages forsterile articles should not be made of plastic alone, or paper coatedwith plastic all over its surface, because the packages would then burstduring the gas sterilization process.

Opening of a sterile package often takes place in a sterile environmentsuch as an operating room. It is fundamental to make sure that theopening procedure does not give rise to contamination of thesurroundings, for example by release of fiber or dust particles.Although sterile, such particles could easily cause inflammatoryreactions when coming into contact with body tissues in an operationwound.

Another essential demand is to allow for the sterilized article to bepacked in such a manner that its sterility is preserved when taken outof the package.

The packages used today for small or thin articles normally consist oftwo sheets of paper sealed together along their edge margins, whereasthick or bulky articles are packed in plastic trays heat-sealed to apaper lid. These two types of package are opened by tearing off theseals. Since sealing is usually performed by melting together a sheet ofpaper coated with a lacquer and a sheet of paper without coating,opening of a conventionally produced package will result in a certainamount of paper being ripped off when breaking the seal open and, as aninevitable consequence, the appearance of loose fiber particles.

A further significant factor associated with such packages is theproblem of attaining seams which are tight and strong enough to providesterility for their contents, but still easily pulled apart withoutsplitting the paper when opening the package.

If the package is ripped as a result of too strong heat seal welds, thecontents will most probably be contaminated by the rugged tear edges,and the article which is no longer sterile has to be discarded. With thepresent invention there is obtained a package intended for sterilearticles which, when opened, does not give off fiber particles and whicheliminates the problem of adjusting the seals or bonds to the desiredstrength.

A package for sterile articles made according to the invention isprimarily distinguished in that it includes a paper web part (1) towhich is joined a plastic web part (2), said web parts together servingto accommodate at least one article (8), whereby the plastic web part isformed of a film made of a linearly oriented plastic material, istearable in the direction of orientation of the plastic material, andpreferably has one or more tear indications (5) for opening the package.

In order to break open a conventional package, the interconnectedpackage-forming webs must be pulled apart, as previously mentioned. Suchtearing will require the use of both hands, which after having been intouch with the non-sterile outer surfaces of the package are no longersterile. Emptying the package by turning it upside down and letting thecontents fall out and down onto a sterile surface would involve aconsiderable risk of contamination, since the article could then easilycome into contact with the ripped non-sterile sealing surfaces of thepackage. To enable removal of the sterile article from the package withits sterility intact, there is thus needed the assistance of a secondperson.

A further disadvantage in conjunction with the opening of conventionalpackages is that their contents tend to slip aside thereby easilygetting in touch with the non-sterile, ripped surfaces, or they willjust fall right out of the package and down onto a non-sterile surface.

With a suitable embodiment of a package according to the invention, theaforesaid drawbacks are overcome by at least one portion of the paperweb part being folded in over the contents of the package; by theplastic web part at least partially overlapping the inwardly foldedportion of the paper web part which is then at least partially coveredby the plastic web part; by the plastic web part being both transverselyand longitudinally connected to the paper web part; and by the plasticweb part being provided with tear indications located beyond theconnecting lines with imaginary tear lines made inwardly of andimmediately adjacent two parallel connecting lines, the orientation ofthe linear plastic material being such that the plastic web part can betorn along said connecting lines so that the sterilized contents of thepackage is retained between the folded-over paper portion and theremaining paper web part after the package has been opened and theplastic web part torn off.

The invention will be described in more detail below with reference totwo exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, of which

FIG. 1a is a plan view of a first embodiment of a package according tothe invention as seen from above;

FIG. 1b is a cross section along the line A--A in FIG. 1a;

FIG. 2a is a plan view, also seen from above, of a second embodiment ofthe inventive package;

FIG. 2b is a cross section along the line B--B in FIG. 2a, and

FIG. 3 finally is a perspective view of the embodiment as seen in FIGS.2a and 2b showing the package partially torn apart.

According to the embodiment of the inventive package as shown in FIGS.1a and 1b, a sheet of paper 1 and a plastic film 2 are interconnectedalong two parallel side edges. The plastic material used is a linearlyoriented polyethylene film which is tearable along its direction oforientation without the need of mechanically applied tear lines in theplastic material. An example of such a plastic film is Favorite CPL5500, made by Favorite Plastic Corporation.

As binder 3 can be used a glue, preferably hot melt. The sheet of paperis coated with a lacquer, which enables the application of heat crossseals 4 on the package. Other types of cross seal are also conceivablesuch as cold seals, for example.

Two tear indications 5, disposed near the glue lines 3 in the area ofthe plastic web lying beyond the cross seal at one end portion of thepackage, are so arranged in relation to the plastic web that their linesof elongation coincide with the linear direction of orientation thereof.

In order to open the package, a flap 7 formed between the tearindications 5 is lifted, whereafter the plastic web can be torn open dueto its linearity along the extension of the tear indications parallelwith the glue lines.

The method outlined above involves the advantages that no spread ofloose fiber particles from the package will occur since opening takesplace by tearing the plastic material, and that the bonds on the packagecan be made without considering any demands on tearability, obviatingsimultaneously the problems associated with too weak bonds. Also,optimal security is attained with regard to maintaining sterility of theenclosed article.

According to the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, asterilized article 8 is applied with one of its side surfaces abuttingagainst the paper web part 9, which is rectangular in shape and has twoopposing edge portions 10 bent in over two edges 11 of the article andpartially in over the opposite side surface 12 thereof. The plastic webpart 13 overlaps the inwardly bent edge portions 10 of the paper webpart and is sealed thereto, preferably by hot melt 14, parallel with andclose to the fold lines of the edge portions 10. At its ends, thepackage further has cross seals 15, the portion of the plastic web partlocated beyond the cross seal at one end 16 of the package beingprovided with tear indications 17 made in the linear direction oforientation of the plastic material and aligned with the bonds 14connecting the plastic web part to the inwardly bent edge portions ofthe paper web part. The tear indications are disposed close to the edgebonds and with their lines of elongation extending lengthwise of thebent-over edge portions 10 of the paper web part. The package is openedby tearing off the plastic web part along the elongation of the tearindications, as shown in FIG. 3.

By means of the portions 10 of the paper web part being bent in over theedges of the contents in the package, the article in the package whenopened is prevented from coming into contact with the ripped,non-sterile surfaces of the plastic material. The edge flaps furtherserve to minimze the risk of the contents sliding out when opening thepackage, said flaps also enabling one person along to empty the packageby grasping the article between the main portion of the paper web partand one inwardly bent portion with one hand, the other hand then beingfree to fold off the opposite, inwardly bent portion from the article.In doing so, the article is allowed to fall out of the package and downonto a sterile surface without the risk of touching any non-sterilesurfaces on the package such as the ripped edges of the plastic webpart.

A further advantage is gained in that the foldings and the plastictogether render the package more flexible, thus enabling it to beutilized also for bulky and thick articles, as well as the resultingprofits with regard to freedom of loose fibers and increased bondstrength.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above but alsoencompasses any modification falling within the scope of the appendedclaims.

We claim:
 1. A package for a sterile article, comprising a paper partand a plastic part secured to said paper part along opposinglongitudinal and opposing transverse lines in intersecting sealingrelationship to define a package cavity adapted to accommodate saidsterile article, said package having at least one end portion includinga portion of said plastic part extending outwardly from one saidtransverse line, said plastic part comprising a linearly orientedplastic film material which can be torn in its direction of orientation,said direction of orientation being parallel to said longitudinal lines,said paper part having opposing free edge portions parallel to saidlongitudinal lines that are folded over toward each other andterminating within said package cavity, said longitudinal lines beingdisposed on said folded over free edge portions of said paper part, andtear indications on the portion of the plastic part in said outwardlyextending end portion of the package parallel to and between but closelyadjacent said longitudinal lines, said opposing free edge portionsterminating between and spaced a substantial distance from said tearindications and said longitudinal lines.
 2. The package of claim 1wherein said tear indications are positioned closer to said longitudinallines than to said opposing free edge portions.